The Principality executes the ruling and annuls the contested service head positions

The Ministry of Presidency, Demographic Challenge, Equality and Tourism has ordered the execution, on its own terms, of the ruling by the High Court of Justice of Asturias (TSJA) which annuls the provision system for the challenged service head positions, considering it to be contrary to law. This is done via a resolution dated October 14, 2026, signed by the Minister Gimena Llamedo González, published in the Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias (BOPA) no. 208, of October 27, 2026, section I (Other Provisions), under reference Code 2026-08493.

The executed ruling is the judgment of October 14, 2025, from the First Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the TSJA, issued in ordinary procedure 115/2024. The appeal was filed by the court representative Mr. A. S. Q. in the name and representation of the association Tribuna de Funcionarios del Cuerpo Superior de Administradores del Principado de Asturias.

The resolution recalls that the judgment has become final and that, therefore, the procedures of Article 26 of Decree 20/1997, of March 20, which regulates the organization and functioning of the Legal Service of the Principality of Asturias in relation to contentious-administrative rulings, must be observed.

The annulled agreement and its expansion

The origin of the litigation is the Agreement of November 24, 2023, of the Governing Council, which approved the modification of the job position planning instruments, published in BOPA no. 232, of December 4, 2023. The court upholds the appeal against that agreement and, consequently, “we annul, for not being in accordance with the law, the provision system of the Service Head positions challenged by said designation.”

The scope of the process was successively expanded over nearly two years, through agreements and resolutions that the ruling expressly relates:

• The Agreement of June 7, 2024, incorporated by Order of July 19, 2024.
• The Resolution of May 28, 2024, from the Ministry of Presidency, by Order of September 4, 2024.
• The Resolution of July 2, 2024, from the Ministry of Presidency, by Order of October 9, 2024.
• The Resolution of September 13, 2024, by Order of December 4, 2024.
• The Resolution of November 14, 2024, by Order of January 28, 2025.

The judgment does not make an express imposition of costs, a point that the execution resolution reproduces literally.

The framework of free appointment

The provision system for service head positions is based on Article 65.2.b) of the Principality of Asturias Law 2/2023, of March 15, on Public Employment, which allows for free appointment on an exceptional basis for “service head positions that have the highest level of destination supplement and whose functions are carried out in areas where the exercise of administrative powers has a greater margin of initiative, autonomy or discretion and responsibility.”

This exceptional nature is the core of the conflict: the appealing association maintains that the modification of the organizational instruments approved in 2023 generalized free appointment in head positions reserved for other provision systems. The TSJA (High Court of Justice of Asturias) has ruled in its favor regarding the challenged service head positions.

A litigation with uneven results

The same association and the same court representative have been protagonists in other proceedings before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the TSJA. In ordinary proceeding 539/2025, the court dismissed its appeal against the Agreement of May 12, 2025, of the Governing Council (published in BOPA no. 90, of the 13th) and against the call for free appointment for the position of Data Protection Officer, with costs imposed on the appealing party.

That resolution, dated September 22, 2026, was published in BOPA no. 190, of October 1, 2026. The contrast between both rulings draws a judicial map that remains open regarding the limits of free appointment within the Administration of the Principality.

Consequences for the administrative career

The annulment directly affects officials of the Higher Body of Administrators and other bodies that occupy or aspire to service head positions: the appointments made under the annulled system are affected by a final judicial ruling, and the Department is obliged to execute the judgment on its own terms.

The regional Executive must also review the filling of those positions in accordance with the current organizational instruments, after the TSJA declared the route used in 2023 to be contrary to law.

The publication in the BOPA turns the execution into an opposable administrative act and opens the door for those affected to claim a review of their professional situations. The resolution is dated October 14, 2026, and orders its own publication in the regional bulletin, a formality that was fulfilled with the October 27 edition.

Source: Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias (BOPA), no. 208, of October 27, 2026, section I (Other Provisions), page 1 (official reference: Code 2026-08493).